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Henry Miller
axXWMn8ZNcg Commandant Henry Miller was a high ranking member of the NY Ghosts in New York City in New York and currently is the leader of the New Ghosts in Mason in South Dakota. Once ambitious and proud, Miller has been brought low by the RUSA and has become a reluctant ally of Custer. He is an experienced fighter and commander but is hindered by the New Ghosts' small size. History Childhood and Teenage Years Henry Miller was born to Laura Miller in 2231 in the New York underground. His father, Chevek Miller, had been an NY Ghost and was killed at the beginning of the Subway War in a tribal station, with his body never being recovered. This left Laura to birth Henry alone. Henry's grandmother had a big role in raising him and Emma while Laura Miller was working. She stayed with him during the day, fed him, and schooled him as well as his older sister Emma. This schooling mostly consisted of arithmetic, English, and literature. This bored Henry, and he became more interested in the father who he never knew. Still, Henry mostly played with his friends in the subway and explored, even as the Subway War that killed his father still raged just out of eyesight. Laura never told Henry what happened to his father, telling Emma to stay quiet as well, and accordingly, the boy's imagination wandered. At the tender age of ten, Henry found his father's old journals. They were hidden underneath his father's bed, unknown to his mother and grandmother. It took days for Henry to read through all the journals, mostly containing personal information and accounts of Chevek's service in the Subway War. In the journal's last entry, Henry found that Chevek was going to a tribal station. Little Henry knew where that station was, but it was far away, farther away than he had ever gone. Not trusting his mother, grandmother, or sister to tell him the truth, Henry asked his friends, Constance and Robert Leroy, to come with him to find the tribal station. Robert was reluctant, but eventually, both of them agreed to come with Henry. They set out on their adventure on April 28, 2243. This predictably ended in disaster with Henry, Constance, and Robert being captured en route by Cabal tribals. The terrified children were brought back to a tribal station (not the one they were looking for) and put in cages. The station was in ruins and lit by torches, not the inviting lightbulbs of the children's home station. Henry and Constance were lucky as they had cages to themselves while Robert Leroy was shoved into a cage with a captive Underlyer. For the next few days, Henry and Constance were forced to watch Robert being killed, disemboweled, and eaten in darkness while their tribal captors laughed and got high on chems. The nightmare ended a few nights later when a team of NY Ghosts, searching for the lost children, came upon the tribal station and destroyed it, rescuing the surviving children. Little Henry came back to his mother with dry eyes, having exhausted all of his tears over his friend Robert. His mother Laura worried sick but also mad as hell, beat Henry black and blue for his actions and kept him confined to his room for month as punishment. He was lucky that Robert's family had forgiven him because, by subway law, they were well within their rights to kill him in revenge, child or not. In the month he was confined to his room, Henry's only visitors were his mother and grandmother (Emma was told to stay away). Only his grandmother would talk to him. Henry was wracked by nightmares of the events he had experienced. Angry at himself for his failure, Henry decided to ask what had really happened to his father. Henry's grandmother, his mother's mother, was ready to oblige the boy and spun a long story over several days. Henry was fed the ballad of a man who sacrificed all he had for the woman he loved, joined the Ghosts to defend his home, and eventually died trying to save his men. By the end of the story two weeks later, young Henry was sobbing. His grandmother hugged him, and the sound attracted his mother. Seeing Henry crying his eyes out, Laura Miller also embraced her son whispering that it would be all right. Emma watched but hung back, watching the group hugging. She wanted to forgive Henry for his rash actions but to her, it did not feel right. Henry had led a boy to his death. This began the wedge between Emma and Henry that would only widen over the years. Henry emerged from his house for the first time a month later after he recovered from the news of his father's death. He had to earn back the trust of the rest of the community, and that took time. By 2246, most of Henry's community had forgiven him for his actions due to his hardworking attitude and willingness to serve. A layer of distrust still permeated every conversation Henry had with others in his community, though. Despite Henry's best efforts, his old friend Constance would not forgive him for what happened. He asked his sister Emma for advice but she told him that Constance was within her rights not to talk to Henry. This was not the answer Henry wanted. With practically the whole station being against him, Henry stayed to himself and began to wander beyond the edges of the station. He made numerous expeditions down subway tunnels down unknown paths armed with naught but a torch and a knife and always came back. Eventually, the situation with Constance worsened into the girl actively hating Henry due his constant efforts to gain forgiveness. This though was superseded by two events happening in 2247 that would more deeply affect Henry's young life: his grandmother's death and the Cabal's attack on his home station. In the afternoon of March 4, 2247, Henry's grandmother went into paralysis and was confined to her bed by Laura and Emma Miller. Henry was out exploring almost missed saying goodbye to his grandmother. Luckily, he did make it home and gave a final hug before she died and was consigned to the mushroom heap to continue the circle of life. Her death made Henry feel even more lost as his grandmother had felt more like a mother than his real mother who was always busy. In late March, a Cabal raiding party penetrated deep into stations protected by the NY Ghosts. One of the raiding parties came upon Henry's station and a battle ensued in the dead of night. The clash between the Cabal tribals and NY Ghosts woke up the entire station, including Henry. Henry, Emma, and their mother barricaded their house and took up their weapons to prepare for the worst. Henry had prepared for an attack but was terrified now that it was actually happening, hearing cries of pain outside. No tribals came into their house but smoke did. However, the smoke from burning buildings began to smog up the Miller's house, and they were forced to go outside or suffocate. Henry's mother Laura nearly did Emma and Henry dragged their unconscious mother out of the smoke-filled house and look for some other shelter. While Emma held up their mother, Henry defended them for marauding tribals. He was forced to kill three with his shotgun, with gave him an edge over the club and maul wielding tribals. The tribals' savage faces and ferocious fighting skills terrified Henry and stayed in his nightmares for years to come. After ten minutes of panic and roaming the station looking for shelter, Henry, Emma, and their mother were allowed into someone's house where they waited out the rest of the battle. By the end, half of Henry's home station had been destroyed or burnt down, including the Millers' home. The NY Ghosts could only offer protection and did not have the resources to rebuild the homes lost in the raid. One of NY Ghosts involved in the station's defense had noticed Henry's skill with a shotgun and asked if he might want to join up. Henry refused, knowing his father's fate and not wanting to abandon his family. Homeless and broke, the Millers decided to head to the NY Ghosts' home station to seek their fortunes and additional security. So, in 2247 Henry left his home station to head deeper underground, a refugee of the Subway War. Upon arrival, all members of the Miller family set to work. Laura worked as a washerwoman for the NY Ghosts' mess hall, Emma got a job at a local bar, and Henry tried working as a scavenger. Scavenging proved to not be a sustainable lifestyle for Henry, though. The pickings were too slim, and Cabal tribals were still roaming the subway tunnels. In the New York tunnels, Henry held his own against hostile scavengers and Cabal tribals, often relying on traps and his wits so as to preserve ammunition. These skirmishes eventually attracted the attention of the NY Ghosts, whose patrols often ran across young Henry in the tunnels. Specifically, Henry attracted the attention of a Ghost elder, Boris Karlson. Karlson was convinced Henry would make a great Ghost and made overtures for him to join on various occasions. At that time, though, Henry was still reluctant due to wanting to be there for his family and remembering what happened to his father. However, Henry's attitude changed by 2249 when it became clear that scavenging was not a lifestyle that would satisfy him or sustain his family. So, Henry decide to accept Karlson's offer and join the NY Ghosts. Subway War The process of joining was not as simple as just agreeing to join, though. Henry was put through a month and a half of hellish training before he was even allowed to put any equipment on. He wasn't allowed to see his family or even talk to anyone outside of the Ghosts. Training mostly consisted of combat and survival techniques that would save him in battle in the NY Undercity. When in training, Henry proved himself able and a good shot, earning him the admiration of many of his peers and many friends. He became very confident in himself. That was why Commandant Malcolm Long picked him to make an example of to the new recruits. One morning while the NY Ghost recruits, including Henry, were practicing hand-to-hand combat in a remote tunnel, Commandant Long came to inspect them. After observing a few of the fights which Henry won, Long asked if he could participate as well, against Henry perhaps. Honored by the Commandant, Henry and the trainees accepted Long's offer, and the two squared off to fight. Henry knew that the experienced Ghost would probably beat him but figured that his raw strength and skill might carry the day. It did not. Commandant Long gave no quarter to Henry and absolutely trounced him in close-combat. The other trainees were not surprised by the fact Long won but the fact that he beat Henry so absolutely. After laying Henry on the ground, Commandant Long gave a lecture to the trainees on being smart and choosing your battles wisely. Laid out on the ground, Henry slowly got up and tried to thank Long for the lesson. In response, Long kicked him in the leg and called him a "pissbaby kissass". This made Henry snap, and he tried to lunge for Long, only to get a kick in the ribs that laid him out again. However, that time, Henry did not get up. Long's kick had caused Henry to have internal bleeding apparently. After this was discovered, Henry was immediately sent to a clinic to be taken care of, as stimpaks and Med-X could not immediately heal his problem. Henry's time in the clinic was almost therapeutic, finally being out of the Ghosts' hellish training environment. His trainee friends often visited him as well as his sister and mother. He even got a visit from his sponsor, Boris Karlson, who was concerned over his health (perhaps due to the damage Henry's death might have to his reputation). Henry spent two weeks in the hospital before returning to the Ghosts, his internal bleeding healed. His friends were happy to have him back and surprisingly, so did Commandant Long. Long proceeded to give Henry Miller a long talk about his future and how to survive. This was probably meant as half an apology, half an education for the future. That was not how Henry interpreted it, though. He took it as Long being condescending and still looking down on him despite surviving his beatdown. So, he gave Long a resounding "Fuck You" and left. The Commandant was angry at this but forgot about it the next day, focusing his rage on another recruit. In 2250, Henry finally became a fully fledged member of the NY Ghosts. Before going on his first patrol, several of the old Ghosts made Henry and his trainee friends go through a traditional right of passage: go to the surface unarmed, take something, and return it to the Undercity in one night as "tribute" to the older Ghosts. The practice was not endorsed by the higher ups but was tolerated. This scared many of the trainees shitless. Henry was scared but did not show it. He had never gone topside and didn't even know what to expect. On the midnight of January 24, 2250, Henry and the rest of the trainees set out to the surface. He decided to go together with another trainee Yusuf to get to the surface. It took Henry and Yusuf three hours, skirting Underlyers and tribal stations, but they did manage to get to station still connected to the surface. The two emerged into a moonlit New York City, hearing screams, gunshots, and rumbles of explosions. The air was open, and the sky terrified Yusuf. Luckily, the area they emerged was not radioactive. After Henry calmed down Yusuf, they decided to split up to look for their artifacts in the ruins. Skirting the moonlit and rubble-strewn streets of New York, Henry poked among the ruins looking something suitable to return with. After about an hour of searching, Henry found five packs of cigarettes. Knowing smokes were a rarity underground, Henry decided to take those and return to the NY Undercity. It took another hour, and it was seven o'clock. However, as Henry was heading back to the entrance to the Undercity, he heard a smooth voice drifting through the air like siren song, better than any radio song he had ever heard. Immediately thinking it a trap, Henry resolved to head straight down. He could not resist the temptation though and decided to investigate the noise. It turned out it was coming from a record player playing in a National Pleasure League raiding camp. It also turned out that the camp had been exterminated by local raiders, and the records were the only things breaking the silence of the night there. Taking the records and record player, Henry decided to bring that down with him as well as the smokes. By the time Henry made it back to the entrance of the NY Undercity, dawn had arrived and the sun was peeking over the horizon. It took Henry a lot less time to get back and by 8:10 AM, Henry had made it back to the NY Ghosts' home station. Handing the older Ghosts the packs of cigarettes he had found, Henry quickly set up the record player in his quarters and played the record he had found to hear the song again. It was beautiful music. Yusuf and some of the other trainees also listened in and asked what the song was. Looking at the record's package, Henry Miller found that it was a single by Frank Sinatra, New York, New York. That song ushered in Henry's time in the NY Ghosts and his love of the music of Frank Sinatra. After the right of passage and a well or so of respite and a bit of visiting with his family, Henry and the other trainees were placed on the frontlines of the Subway War in outposts and barricades dotted around Ghosts-controlled New York fighting mutants and the Cabal. Henry brought his record and record player with him to his first deployment, an isolated Ghost outpost in the northern tunnels, Station Gamma. No longer the top dog of the trainees, Henry had to stick with his friend Yusuf and keep his head down. Henry Miller held down the northern outpost for almost five years and had numerous small clashes with Cabal tribals and mutants, such as Underlyers and deathclaws. However, these small clashes were few and far between, and the NY Ghosts at the outposts were forced to find ways to pass the time. Some used sex, others chems, some counting radroaches crawl by. One of the ways Henry passed the time by listening to his Frank Sinatra records, which the rest of the Ghosts also listened to and sometimes borrowed. It was through this borrowing that Henry met Jacob Richards for the first time. Another arrival to the outpost, Jacob was a newly minted Trailblazer and had second-hand borrowed one of Henry's Frank Sinatra records from Yusuf in early 2250. While on sentry duty, Jacob was playing the records and did not even notice that Henry Miller had been shifted into guard duty. Henry complemented Jacob on his taste in music and asked him where he got the records and record player. Jacob deftly responded by saying he had borrowed it from Yusuf. Henry loudly cursed at this, as he had told Yusuf not to give out his valuables. Before he could voice his complaints, a throwing spear appeared on the wall not two feet from Jacob's head. The Cabal was attacking Station Gamma. Sounding the alarm, Henry and Jacob managed to repel the Cabal attack with the help of their fellow Ghosts. The two worked well in battle, and Henry forgot his anger. At the end of the battle, the Cabal had been repelled, three Ghosts were dead, and the records were undamaged. Tens of dead tribals were dumped near a Cabal station as a kind of message to the Cabal. After that, Henry and Jacob managed to bond and become friends while on sentry duty together. At one point, Henry even showing his letters from home from his mom and Emma to Yusuf and Jacob, as he trusted both of them. The contents of the letters became more concerning as time went on since Henry's mom and Emma were having trouble because Emma wanted to move out of the house finally. However, in 2250, it was still just local gossip, visits to Penn Sanctuary, and news from other fronts of the Subway War. In the summer of 2250, after much boredom and music listening, an unknown sickness hit Station Gamma and several other outposts on the borders of Ghost, as well as many Cabal stations. The disease was not typically fatal but was very debilitating physically for the effected. The outbreak lasted about a year and was never seen again. Henry was spared the sickness, but Yusuf fell deeply sick, and Jacob caught a mild case twice. This meant Henry was put on sentry duty overtime to make up for the sick Ghosts in late 2250 and early 2251. This gave him very little sleep and put him on edge somewhat. Things did not improve for Henry when his record player broke in 2250 from degradation. The loss of his music made Henry curse God for several days, but he managed to get over it. Wanting to preserve them for later, Henry asked his superior if he could store his Frank Sinatra records in Station Gamma's safe. The man initially refused but was later convinced by Henry's friends who vouched for the records' importance to morale. They would stay in there until Henry found another record player. Later in the year, news came to Station Gamma from the south of the death of Deputy Commandant Trent Billings in battle against the Cabal and the ascension of Penelope Jay, a lacky of Malcolm Long, to the position of Deputy Commandant. This concerned Henry and his friends some, but they had little time to consider it, with the sickness still around and events soon to come. In the early September of 2250, a traveling brothel from the surface came down into the NY Undercity to try to cater to the subway dwellers. The first civilized place the brothel came upon was Station Gamma, and they decided to stay there for a short while to ply their trade. The outpost's commander would not let the brothel and its whores come into the outpost so they were forced to camp outside in the tunnels. Still, many Ghosts came to the brothel looking for comfort away from their sick comrades. Henry, along with the still-sick Yusuf, tried to resist going. However, Henry decided to go on the last day to lose his virginity. The experience was an altogether uncomfortable one, where Henry was confused and uncertain about what to to do. It would be an experience that would rather forget later in life but one Jacob would use to poke him for the rest of his life. In the late September of 2250, the traveling brothel left Station Gamma. Snow soon began to fall on the surface in the ruins of Manhattan and the tunnels became cold, making the sickness worst. Henry was forced to huddle around a fire to wait out the winter listening to the radio, hearing about skirmishes and battles to the south. In early 2251, the Subway War returned to Station Gamma alongside a Cabal war party. The war party tried to attack in the dead of night and kill the sentries to try to catch the Station off guard. Henry was asleep when word was yelled that an attack was underway and suited up quickly. Two minutes later, Henry was on the walls of Station Gamma with the rest of the Ghosts engaged in a firefight with the Cabal tribals. Only a few Ghosts were injured at the cost of several tribals' lives. Seeing the element of surprise lost, the Cabal war party decided to instead move south to riper targets. Henry would have been happy to celebrate the victory but rations did not allow a celebratory meal or loud music anymore. So life just went on as it did before. It would be a long time before Station Gamma came under fire from the Cabal again. As the sickness wore on in the early months of 2251 after the attack, Henry finally fell victim and was bedridden. Henry decided to take a bed beside his friend Yusuf, who was in worse condition. Jacob, who had replaced Henry on his watch, came in occasionally and complained about the long hours of standing guard and not being able to go on scouting expeditions. Fallback, Family, and Focus 2279: The Year from Hell The New Ghosts Clashes with Custer and Reality Check Personality Henry Miller gained his position among the NY Ghosts for his tenacity, stubbornness, and bluntness. His ego and confidence played smaller roles. Although this benefited him in his rise to power thanks to the help of sympathetic Ghosts, Miller had little taste for bureaucracy which led him to defy Lawrence McNair's idea of reestablishing the NY Ghosts under a new council instead of going for strong leadership. Instead, Miller left with his "New Ghosts". This did not benefit him in South Dakota when Miller confronted General Custer, who forced the Commandant to bow to him after being defied once. This has made Miller unsure of his own abilities for the first time and placed seeds of doubts in the New Ghosts about their leader. Nevertheless, Henry's friends look past his ego and rudeness and see a man who is loyal to the end and will never betray them. Henry is noted for his loyalty to his friends, one of the reasons so many NY Ghosts left with him to create the New Ghosts. Appearance Commandant Miller's physical appearance is not quite imposing, being short and stocky. He has short brown cropped hair and a beard, sometimes trimmed and sometimes not. Henry Miller's skin has a rather sickly hue from living underground for most of his life, so he burns easily. Henry Miller mostly wears camouflage Army fatigues, even in civilian settings. In battle, he wears black combat armor and a gas mask. Equipment The weapons Miller most commonly wielded was a R91 assault rifle, a modified 10mm pistol, a flare gun, and a combat knife. He sometimes also has stimpaks and food products. Quotes By About Category:Badlands Category:New York